If Only
by Robbiejones
Summary: Bitta fantasy fluff, not sure where its going yet though lol...
1. Chapter 1

It was just past 3 am and as usual Rhys and Jacqui had swanned off leaving me here to clean up the club by myself. Well I wasn't exactly alone, my boss Brendan Brady was here probably sitting on his arse in the office counting all the cash he just made while I do all the hard work. He had pretty much blanked me the whole time I was working today, as he usually does after we sleep together. He likes to reassert himself as the boss in our "relationship". Just as I thought that to myself the office door opened and out popped his beautiful face .

"Stephen, Take this down the bank will ya, there's a good lad" Bossing me about again I thought to myself, just like after every other time we've slept together.

" Yeah ill do it now Brendan as soon as ive cleared up here"

I worked away for another twenty minutes or so before Brendan came back out of the office with that look on his face that I knew meant only one thing, He was horny.

" You haven't left yet I see"

"No, im not finished clearing up here yet am I?"

" Well, Stephen, you might be able to persuade me to let you finish that in the morning" He said winking at me and rubbing his fingers over his moustache in the way he did.

I knew exactly what he meant by that but I decided that for once id take charge and be the "boss"

" Great " I strode past him trying not to smile and grabbed the money bag off the bar before heading down the stairs " Ill see ya tomorrow then boss" I shouted back up, Knowing that Brendan would not be a happy bunny tomorrow but I figured I could make it up to him.

Brendan's POV

That lad always taking liberties these days, Ill have to put him back in his place I thought to myself. Not by hitting him but there were other ways to make Stephen do what I wanted. He couldn't resist my charm when I really turned it on I laughed to myself. I decided to leave the mess, let him actually clean it up in the morning and so I locked up the club and headed for home. I opened the front door as silently as I could but I knew I didn't wake Cheryl, I could hear her snoring her head off upstairs. I pulled off my jacket and walked over the fridge bending down to get out something to drink before I headed up to bed when I heard a small tap on the door.

I walked over quietly and tried as silently as I could to ask " Who is it"

" Brendan please just open the door"

Ah Stephen, I thought to myself, I knew he would come around once the offer had been made by me.

I opened the door expecting to see a mischievous little grin on his face, but instead I saw only blood and bruises.

"Stephen, What the fuck happened? Are ya alright? Who did this to ya?"

" Can I please come in"

" Yeah Jesus sorry come in" I said pulling him in the door and directing him over to a couch. The more I looked at him I could see it was bad. His lip was burst, There was blood in his hair and running down the side of his face. His clothes were all dirty and muddy and he was soaking wet.

" Stephen , seriously what happened to ya?" I asked already knowing the answer.

" Im really sorry Brendan please don't kick off, I…. I.. was on my way to the bank and then there were these lads and I dunno what happened im really sorry I lost your money please don't hate me"

I couldn't believe it, not that he'd been mugged sure id mugged my own sister, but that he thought id be upset about the money when he was so badly hurt.

" Stephen its fine I don't care about the money, Im just happy that they didn't do any worse to ya. Come here " I said pulling him into a hug. I heard him wince and made a move to pull away but he held onto me even tighter. We seemed to stay in that position for an age with Stephen silently sobbing on my shoulder.

Then the light in the room came on. " What's going on Bren" Shit Cheryl what the fuck am I going to say I thought quickly letting go of Stephen but not standing up from in front of him. " Eh yeah sis there was a bit of an incident young Stephen here was bringing the takings down to the night safe for me and he was em…. mugged"

"Oh my god Ste love come here" she said in her usual loud voice as she rushed over and pulled him into one of her bear hugs. " Oh god look at the state of ya ill go get some hot water get ya cleaned up love"

With Cheryl now in the room I was much less reluctant to touch Stephen but he just looked so sad that I had to. Reaching out and touching his hand I asked him quietly " Who did this to ya?"

" I dunno Brendan I didn't see them" I had a feeling he was lying to me. Stephen never really seemed to able to lie to me.

" Come on Stephen tell me, ill take care of them"

" That exactly why even if I knew who it was I wouldn't tell ya" He whispered quietly. I decided it was best to leave it for now, he was still upset and I figured once he got over the shock I would be able to get it out of him and then take care of the pricks that did this. They'll regret ever messing with my boy….shit.

Almost let myself think that. I quickly stood up and moved to sit on the couch opposite Stephen.

Cheryl came bustling back into the room and began gently cleaning up the blood on Stephens pretty little face. He winced a few times but there were no tears, I forget sometimes that he actually is quite a strong person, not physically obviously.

" Right that's the best I can do, ill go set up a bed for you upstairs and get lynsey to give ya a proper look in the morning love"

"Oh cheers Cheryl but I best go home" Stephen said sounding almost afraid of staying the night, probably afraid of what id say.

" No Stephen, your in no state to go home to kids, stay here you can have my bed yeah" He looked at me like I had just suggested he go punch warren fox in the face and I just smiled thinking of spending the night with him. I guess everything has a good side. With that we all headed upstairs…..


	2. Chapter 2

Brendan's Bedroom - Ste's POV

When he shut his bedroom door behind him I didn't know what to expect. He had gotten a sleeping bag off of Cheryl so I assumed that was for me and went to take it from his hands.

"Woah, what ya doing Stephen?" He looked almost insulted, or at least I thought so, I could never really read his facial expressions.

"Well I thought id be sleeping on the floor" I said awkwardly looking at the floor.

"No don't be silly, you've just been beaten up Id hardly make ya sleep on the floor" He said.

"Right, so your gunna sleep on the floor" I asked confused.

" Stephen, No one will be sleeping on the floor….Ya get me?" He said slowly as if I was stupid or something, But then I suppose I always was saying stupid stuff around him

" Oh I dunno Bren im still pretty sore" I whispered almost afraid he would kick me out because I didn't wanna do what he wanted to do.

" Stephen seriously, stop being stupid. I wouldn't wanna do that with ya now….I wouldn't wanna hurt you". He looked so sincere and sad and I suppose that was his way of saying sorry for the times he had hit me before.

With that over he walked over to me and instructed me to put my arms up while he carefully lifted my blood stained chez chez shirt off of my body.

"Ya don't need a hand with those I assume" he said cheekily gesturing towards my trousers.

" No I think I can manage Bren, but if ya want to help…."I said think that I really was getting a lot more confident with him these days.

I thought I knew what would come next but man was I wrong. Lets just say it was all about me, for what felt like a lifetime. He had to stretch his hand up and use it to cover my mouth at one point cause I was being so loud. The things that man can do with his tongue, they amaze me. Especially cause he never really does that to me, I guess he thinks it's a bit too "gay". When I eventually came it was possibly the best feeling id ever felt since me and Bren had started this whole thing.

While I lay there panting he crawled up beside me and wrapped his arm carefully around my waist.

"That make ya feel better then Stephen?"

"Yeah" was all I could manage to pant back. Glancing over at him I could see he was smiling up at me. I wish he smiled more, he had a beautiful smile. What I liked best was that I think im the only person who ever really gets to see this smile. He doesn't really have many friends and then he's always so angry with most people that just seeing him smile at me makes me feel like the most special person in the world. Just as I thought that he lent in for possibly the most tender kiss I've ever experienced. Usually when we kiss its all fast and hard but this was different, This was sweet and slow and gentle. It let me really enjoy and savour his mouth. It was weird because it tasted of my cum, but at the same time, and in a weird way I admit, it tasted good. But it also tasted like Brendan and that's what I liked most. A mixture of both me and Brendan.

He pulled away from me and quickly jumped up off the bed. It scared me, I thought that he might have freaked out again and was about to throw me out of the house, but then he smiled and whispered " Ill be back in a minute" and disappeared out the door.

I reached down and pulled my boxers up and then got under the covers looking around his room while I waited for him to come back. I liked being in his room, and knowing that apart from Cheryl, and maybe Mitzeee ( but I didn't like to think about her and Bren) , that I was the only person he ever had in here. I liked the posters he had on his walls and the fact that he had what I would consider to be a "gay" little shelf of cosmetics in his room. That always made me laugh. He's a strange one my Brendan. And he was mine. Tonight anyway but best not to think like that….

He eventually re-entered the room looking sexy as hell I thought. He was still wearing all his clothes. Dark, tight fitting jeans and that red shirt. The shirt which brought back so many memories…. He looked at me with a mischievous little grin under his moustache. It was only then I noticed he was holding his arms behind his back.

"What ya hiding Bren" I asked feeling rather uncertain of myself suddenly.

"Well Stephen I hear that a certain someone is having a rather important birthday soon"

"Oh that. I'm not really big into birthdays" I told him less interested in what he had behind his back now. I didn't have good experiences with birthdays growing up so I tended to let them pass by me without so much as a second thought these days.

"Yeah well I am" He said sounding rather cocky " So I bought ya a present"

I looked at him in disbelief. He bought me a present. I didn't know what to say. I know I must have looked even more stupid to him now, just sitting here with my mouth open just because he had bought me a birthday present. But it meant something. It had to. It meant that he cared, that he cared a lot more than he let on too anyway.

" What is it" I asked getting excited now. I hadn't gotten a really birthday present in, well forever really. Usually I just got something cheap and tacky from Amy and the kids and from my mum well, lets not go there.

" Open it and see" he said walking it over and handing it to me

"I can change it if you don't like it" he said quickly sounding rather nervous and looking away from me, like I wouldn't like anything he gave me.

I ripped open the sparkly silver wrapping paper to reveal a small leather box.

I opened it slowly and was blown away by what was in it. It was a beautiful silver watch with a brown leather strap. I picked it up to examine it closer. It was truly beautiful. It had a square face and I looked at the symbol and saw it was an Armani watch. Wow it must of cost him a fortune I thought.

"Wow Bren, I love it"

"Ya sure, I can always exchange it.."

I cut him off " No way its perfect, Thank you" I said looking up into his eyes. I reached out my arms to give him a hug and a peck on the lips.

" Put it on me" I asked holding out my arm and the watch.

He did what I asked and I looked at it on my arm. It was perfect really suited me I thought.

" It suits ya Stephen" He said " Maybe I should buy you more fancy things"

I began laughing and looked at him " Ya don't need to buy me fancy things Brendan, I already feel bad enough this must have cost you loads"

" Don't worry bout it Stephen, always more money to be made. Anyway that's only half your present. Were going away for a while" He said half looking at me trying his best to play it cool.

I looked at him in disbelief. Me going away with Brendan Brady….


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it took so long to update, had planned on a brendan POV chapter but just found i couldnt get his character right at all. Anyway hope you enjoy and please review x

Ste's POV

When i left Brendans flat to head for home the next morning i could hardly believe the events of the night. I wasnt even thinking of the mugging, but it did hurt around my ribs andi could feel the bruising on my face. Brendan had been very angry when we woke up this morning and demanded i tell him who it was who mugged me. I refused even though i had a fair idea who it was and decided it best to quietly slip out of the flat before causing any more comotion. When i got to the flat i froze, realising the barage of questions i was sure to get from amy. She would probably think that i was covering for brendan again. With a sigh i put my key in the door and turned it. As soon as i stepped in the flat lucas ran up to me with shouts of "Daddy".

"Heya little man, have you been a good boy for mummy?" I asked as i bent down to pick him up.

I didnt get an answer though as he had now seen the bruising on my face " Daddy whatswrong with your face?" He asked looking rather upset.

"What? Oh this...nothing serious buddy, Daddy was just being silly at work and walked into a door" I told him, not wanting to scare him which i didnt as he just giggled at how silly his daddy was.

But of course as soon as i said that Amy walked around the corner, and let out a shocked gasp.

"Its ok Amy, Nothing happened" I emphasised the last two words hoping she wouldnt ask any more questions in front of Lucas. Luckily she didnt. She waited till the kids were playing in the living room and then asked meabout two hundred questions before she eventually believed Brendan had nothing to do with my bruises, This time.

Later in the afternoon, as i was getting Lucas' lunch ready there was a small knock at the door and that unmistakeable voice calling " Stephen" in that soft but hard way that only he can say my name. I almost ran to the door i was that excited to see him. The second i opened it he barged straight in, walked into the middle of the living room and looked around. I closed the door and walked over towards him.

"Can i help you with something" I asked, wondering why he was acting so strange.

"What...eh No no, i just came over to let ya know ya can take a few days off, ya know recover and that"

"Its fine Brendan, i can work, anyway i cant take days off now, ill need them for when we go away" i asked immediately smiling again at the thought of spending time alone, away from hollyoaks with Bren.

"Nah I cleared it with Cheryl, told her we were going on a lads weekend and we planned it ages ago, anyway Stephen, I do the rotas, I say who works and who doesnt. And, Rhys and Jacqui will finally learn what hard work is with you not there" He smiled at the last bit, obviously complimenting me.

"Awww Cheers Bren, Your a softie really ya know that" I said rather daringly while walking closer to him. He scowled at me and mumbled "yeah whatever" but i knew that he wasnt actually mad. Just playing.

"Anyone home?" He asked.

I laughed and answered " Yeah... Lucas is right behind ya Bren, better get that eyesight checked old man" I joked knowing how sensitive about his age he was.

He looked at me, and it is fair to say he didnt look pleased but then smiled and said " Least i dont look about fifteen Stephen."

I laughed and walked back into the kitched to finish off Lucas' lunch.

"Hey little man, what ya playing?" I heard brendan ask Lucas

"Cars, wanna play with me" Lucas smiled up at him.

I looked at brendan who looked down at Lucas and seemed almost sad. Sometimes i forgot how bad he must feel about missing out on moments like this with his kids and how sad he must be about not being able to see them every day. I know it would kill me to not be near Leah and Lucas.

"Course, buddy" he said and sat down with him, immediately picking up one of Lucas' toy cars and getting straight into the game.

So for the next ten minutes i cooked away, listening to my secret boyfriend playing around with my son, and i couldnt have been happier. I began imagine the life me and Brendan could have together. Doing normal family stuff like this everyday.

I was dragged out of my wonderful daydreams by Brendan calling out my name. I looked around to see him standing leaning against the kitchen wall with Lucas in his arms.

"Any sign of the lunch Stephen, Me and this little man are starved, arnt we?" he asked tickling at Lucas' stomach and making him laugh.

I served up and all three of us sat around the table, laughing and messing about like a proper little family. I dont think there could have been a better way to spend the afternoon than with the two most important men in my life.

After a few more hours of fun, Brendan got up and put his suit jacket back on. He kneeled down to Lucas, and slipped him 5 quid to spend on "sweeties".

I walked him over to the door, just out of Lucas line of sight. " I really enjoyed today Bren, Thanks."

"You dont have to thanks me, it was fun. Reminded me of when the boys were younger, i used to play with them for hours" He reminised. " Oh before i forget. Were going Thursday evening. Ill pick ya up round 6. And ill give ya a hint as to where were going" He said smiling " It could be warm, could be cold, but will most likely be lashing rain where were goin. So pac accordingly" With that he lent in for a quick peck on the lips opened the door and was gone.

I giggled to myself, running into my room to pack, and feeling fairly certain i knew exactly where he was taking me...


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry if this chapter is a bit shite lol, i think i was being over ambitious ... x

Ohhh and in this version Brendan stole the 200 grand from Warren but he didn't buy the club.

Dublin – Part 1

Ste's POV

Thursday rolled around pretty quickly and with each passing day I grew more and more excited. When I told Amy that I was going away with Brendan she was reluctant to let me go, to say the least, but I convinced her that it would be ok.

So there I stood outside the flat, bags packed, waiting for Brendan. Who was late...I kept glancing down at the new watch he had given me, watching the minutes tick by. It was now 6:40 and I was getting paranoid that maybe he had stood me up. I decided enough was enough and pulled my phone out of my pocket to ring him. Of course, as soon as I did this I saw a sleek black two door car tear around the corner and up the road towards my flat. The car pulled to a stop and Brendan hopped out wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses and chewing his trademark gum. Fair to say he looked hot.

"Sorry Stephen, got delayed. Come on hurry up we'll be late if ya keep standing there" He said. Cheek of him making out as if it's my fault were late.

"What, I've been waiting here for 40 minutes Bren, where were ya? I asked, not so sure I wanted to know the answer.

"I was buying this beauty" he exclaimed pointing the car, a BMW I noticed.

"Where the hell did you get the money for this type of car"

"Not important, get in" He smiled back cheekily before hopping into the car.

As I read the road signs along the way I began to feel even more and more certain that I knew exactly where we were going.

Brendan must have been reading my mind because soon after I thought that he asked "Figured out where we're headed yet?"

"Hmmm let me guess now, it wouldn't be Ireland by any chance" I said feeling certain I had guessed correctly.

He looked at me and smiled before, rather sarcastically, saying " Give the boy a prize".

We arrived at the Ferry port and drove on and parked the car up. Brendan said that it would only take about two hours to cross the Irish Sea so that he hadn't booked a cabin. Instead we roamed around the ship, got food and sat on the top deck looking at the endless sea around us and watching the sun set. All rather romantic, except every time I went near Brendan he shuffled further away from me.

After just under two hours had passes I could begin to make out the Dublin Skyline. There wasn't very much in the way of tall buildings, but two striped red and white chimneys stuck out, and the odd tall building. The ferry eventually docked in a place Brendan told me was called Dun Laoghaire, which I couldn't pronounce at all.

As we drove off the boat Brendan smiled at me "Welcome to Dublin, Stephen"

I could only smile back as I was too busy looking out the window getting my first glimpse of the place Brendan grew up.

The next morning I woke up in possibly the nicest room I had ever slept in. It was a suite really, the room had a very modern and swanky living room with a huge grey couch in front of a fireplace over which hung a massive flat screen TV. The bedroom was even nicer, in contrast to the modern sitting room it had a huge Oak four poster bed and a classic style couch and wardrobe. The fanciest part was the trunk at the bottom of the bed had a TV in it which could be raised at the touch of a button, Bren had showed me last night, he said it was the main reason he choose this room.

I could hear Brendan, already up, on the phone to someone in the living room. I could just about make out what he was saying " I dot give a shit what you have to do, just get it done. I'm only here till Sunday and I want my money, mate". With that he hung up and I entered the room.

"So, that's the real reason we came to Dublin is it?" I asked feeling pissed off at him.

"What, no Stephen. That's just a convenient coincidence, I swear to ya" he replied, looking sincere and somehow very sexy at the same time. But then he always looked sexy. I decided it was best to forgive and forget, and I had just the way to show him I forgave him, even though I didn't fully believe him.

And with that I wrapped my arms around him pulled him into a kiss, and dragged him back to the bed.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hey, Just wanted to say thank you for all of the wonderful reviews, was so worried that I wasn't getting Brendan's character right at all. Anyway, saying that I do think I got his character completely wrong in this Chapter, But hey I tried LOL. Hope you like it and please review. X**_

_**Also I'm Irish myself, and live in Dublin so tried to use as many proper place names and things as possible, I don't know why some weird sense of national pride I guess **_

_**And to just clear something up in this story Brendan is with Mitzeee, and somehow managed to steal the 200 grand from Warren at some stage lol, but Noah doesn't exist ( If only that were true of the real Hollyoaks ) **_

Brendan's POV – Dublin Part 2

As I lay in the king size bed with Stephen sleeping silently on my chest I couldn't help but imagine a world in which this could be an everyday occurrence. The lad had talked about it enough, how we could be together "proper" but the more I thought of it I realised that it would never work, I could never be that person, no, this side of me was reserved for Stephen only and I decided that as long as I had him I should make the most of it. With that I flicked him on the top of the head "Stephen, wakey wakey we can't spend the whole day in bed"

"What, awww Bren" He whispered, cuddling closer to my chest "Why can't we?"

"Because, Stephen, I didn't bring you to Ireland just so we could have sex all day" He looked up and me and smirked at that " Well, yeah I did but I mean we still have to do stuff"

"Ok ok, I'll get up in five minutes" He mumbled closing his eyes and lying back down on my chest.

About an hour later we finally hit the streets of Dublin. The hotel was pretty much in the centre of the city so I decided we could leave the car in the hotel and walk around the city. Stephen said that he wanted to see all of the sights and I couldn't help but laugh at the lad looking wide eyed at almost everything we walked by.

"Stephen" I asked "Have you ever been to a different country before"

He looked rather sheepish and replied "No, only family holidays we went on was to like, Blackpool or summat"

"Right, I guess I'll just have to make sure you have a good time on your first trip abroad"

We spent hours going to all of the major tourist stuff in Dublin. I brought him through Trinity college and around by the government buildings, this didn't seem to really impress him so I thought I would try something a bit more modern and we walked over to O Connell street and looked at the spire, which was basically a massive silver pole sticking out of the ground in the middle of Dublin. Not to my taste but he seemed to love it. "Get my picture Bren" he exclaimed like an excited child. I laughed and obliged standing as far back as I could to try and get most of the monument in the picture. I couldn't help myself so i had to crack a very bad joke. I leaned in close to him and whispered into his ear " I should have known that your favourite part of Dublin would be the massive pole"

"Well, at least I get to see one massive pole while I'm here Bren" He rather wittily replied.

I scowled at that, I should have seen such a reply coming.

"Stephen, would you like to see where I grew up?" I asked. I had a feeling I knew what his answer would be, he was forever bugging me about where I grew up and what my childhood was like. I figured if I showed him this it might stop with the constant questions about my background.

"Of course I do, is it far?" came his excited response.

"No, I lived in the city centre till my ma moved us up North"

So we walked up the quays for about ten minutes. The further you walked the more you left the new shiny Dublin behind. Down this end it was mostly run down old buildings and council estates. Of course, there had been some regeneration in the boom years, but mostly now where that had taken place there was just half finished construction sites. I could feel Stephen tensing up slightly beside me as we walked past a small gang of youths drinking cans of beer at the side of the road. Of course it didn't affect me, I had grown up in this type of area, I knew that I could handle any situation that might arise. However, I was completely taken of guard by what happened next.

One of the boys from the gang shouted " What the fuck do you think you're looking at ya little queer"

I instantly turned around in a rage, then I realised that the hostility was directed towards Stephen. I looked quickly at him, he looked afraid. I instantly became incredibly angry.

I walked straight up to the boy, no older than 18 or 19 and squared up to him. I easily towered over him. I looked down and grabbed him around the neck forcing him up against the wall. His mates had all ran off I noticed, not the hard lads they thought they were after all. "Now, would you like to repeat that" I asked in my most menacing voice.

"Whaaat, eh no, look I didn't mean it" he managed to squeak out, he looked petrified.

"Did ya not, now" I said menacingly. My face was pressed right up against his now. "Then you won't mind apologising to my friend here will ya"

"Look I'm sorry man, just get this psycho of me will ya?"

I let him go "Right, Good lad, run along now back to your mates" I said before turning and continuing to lead the way.

"What the hell was that Brendan" I heard Stephen say, he sounded furious.

"What?" I asked, hardly able to believe he was angry at me.

"What did you do that for, I could have handled it myself. And you promised me you wouldn't fly off the handle again" he shouted.

"You can't be serious" This only seemed to make him more angry so I decided it best to try a different approach. "Look, Stephen, I'm sorry I was only trying to protect ya. I didn't want you to get hurt like last week when ya got mugged"

This seemed to cool him down slightly. "Ok but just don't do it again Bren, Yeah?"

"Yeah, I promise. Now come on were almost there"

We walked on for another 3 minutes before we turned a corner and onto the street where I grew up. I walked him down to the 4th house on the left and stopped. "This is it" I said.

I looked at him, he looked amazed, which amazed me. It was only an old run down council house. It wasn't very large just a door and window on the ground level and two tiny windows upstairs.

"That one was my bedroom" I told him pointing to the window on the right.

"It's lovely Bren" I laughed at that.

"No, It's a dump. But it was a happy house, ya know when me Da still lived with us" I decided that giving him than honest little snippet might also help to get him to stop asking questions about my childhood. But I was wrong. This led to about a million questions. I answered some honestly and simply dismissed others. I then led him up to the green, a small patch of grass where I used to play football with a few of the local lads and generally spend most of my early childhood.

After about a million more questions on the way back to the city centre we found ourselves in a small cafe in the Temple Bar area of Dublin. Stephen ordered and omelette while I went for my traditional burger.

" I really enjoyed that Brendan. Thanks" He said quickly reaching across the table to touch my hand gently, for a brief second before pulling it back.

"Yeah, well I thought it might stop ya asking me so many questions, turns out I was wrong" I joked smirking at him from across the table. I dunno what it was, but here in this city I felt so much more at ease. Far more playful and relaxed. I guess the fact that I no longer knew anybody who lived in the city played a role in my easy going mood. I hadn't lived in the city since I was 14 and had long since lost contact with any friends and extended family I may have had living in the city.

Our food came shortly afterwards, and we sat munching away in silence for a few moments, both of us devouring our food. When we had cleared our plates and I had settled the bill we walked outside into the afternoon sun.

"So, where are we going next? He asked, once again looking like an excited little schoolboy.

"Shopping" was my only response as I led him towards Grafton Street, the main shopping street in Dublin.

Ste's POV

I almost had to run to keep up with him as he led me through the packed main shopping area of Dublin. It had been an amazing day so far and I didn't wanna mess it up by ending up getting lost. Luckily for me he soon turned down onto a narrow side street that was less densely populated with shoppers.

"Where are we going Bren" I asked getting tired now.

"Were almost there, yeah were here" He said stopping so suddenly I almost walked straight into him. I turned to look at the shop he had taken me to and immediately burst of laughing.

"What's so funny" He asked looking confused.

"So, this is where you get your dodgy suits from" I asked tilting my head in the direction of the suit shop we were now stood outside.

He looked genuinely insulted at my comment. "Excuse me, your calling my dress sense dodgy, look at yourself ya little chav" He replied

I could only laugh, it was true I didn't have the best sense of style, which was weird because I was gay and I thought all gay blokes had a good fashion sense.

"They're having a sale, Stephen, so I thought I might as well buy some new "dodgy" suits" he said in a voice that sounded genuinely annoyed.

"Aww Bren, Im sorry I was only joking" I said softly moving closer to him and quickly rubbing my hand down his arm " Ya know that I think you look super sexy in your suits"

"I know I do, now inside" he replied and in we went.

The shop was massive and had a huge range of different styles of suits. I walked round looking at a few but quickly lost interest. I'd never worn a suit so had no real interest in one. Instead I watched Brendan as he walked around slowly examining each one that caught his eye and listening to him go on about different types of fabric and which were the best. He eventually went into the changing room with about 4 different suits to try on. I knew he would take forever looking at himself in each on in the mirror so I began to browse the selection of suits available once again. After a few minutes one of them caught my eye and I decided that I would try it on, just to feel what it would be like to wear one of them. I took down one in my size and went into the changing cubicle next to Brens. It was a tan coloured suit and was slightly to large for me. When I looked at myself in the mirror I thought that I looked silly. And I felt uncomfortable. I couldn't for the life of me work out why Brendan didn't just wear jeans and jumpers like most other men.

I stepped out of the cubicle to show Brendan and called his name before opening the curtain to his cubicle a little bit. When I looked in he looked stunning. He was wearing a slim fitting jet black suit with a red shirt. I loved it when he wore red shirts. He turned to look at me and he looked disgusted.

"Eww, Stephen, What are you doing in that thing?"

"I dunno, just thought I'd try it on for fun" I replied.

"Uhh no that won't do. I'll pick ya out something nice wait here."

"No, Bren ya don't have..." but he was already gone busy looking at the various types of suit. I went back into the cubicle to take this horrible suit off. When I was stripped down to just my boxers he flung open the curtain.

"Oh sorry" He smirked "Try this on, It'll suit ya better than the other one" with that he slid the curtain closed again.

I looked at the suit, it was certainly nicer than the other one, was made of a softer silver material and the dark purple shirt he also handed me really complimented the silvery colour.

I put it on and I finally got why Brendan wore suits. It was fantastic. So comfortable and the fit was just perfect, slim but not too slim. And as I looked in the mirror I thought to myself wow I look good.

I stepped out of the changing room and the look on Brendan's face was priceless. He looked both shocked and turned on.

"Wow, You eh certainly look better than before"

"Yeah, I love it. I think I'll get it, How much is it?" I looked around for the price tag and almost died when I saw how much it cost, €600, " Whoa, thats expensive, wonder if it went down much in the sale" I asked Brendan.

He just looked at me and smiled " That is the sale price, its down from €900"

"Oh" I said feeling rather deflated "shame" I said walking back into the changing room to get back into my old cheap clothes.

When I stepped back outside Brendan was already stood there with two suits in his hand ready to head up to buy them.

"Hand me that" He said gesturing to the suit in my hands.

I handed over the suit and assumed he was going to go hang it back up but he instead turned to walk towards the cash register.

"Brendan, what are ya doing"

"Im buying you the suit" He said simply

"What, no you can't, its way to expensive" I tried to reason with him.

" Look, you looked great in it I want to buy it for ya. Think of it as a Birthday present" I couldn't believe it. No one had ever done something this nice for me before. I couldn't help myself I leaped up and wrapped my arms around him in a hug "Thank you" I whispered before quickly letting go, in case he was angry at me. He just laughed and went up to the tills to buy the suits. The total for the 3 suits came to €1600. I couldn't believe it as I watched Brendan hand over the money in cash.

As soon as we stepped outside I had to ask him where the money came from but he refused to tell me just saying that he won it on some bet he placed. He then quickly changed the subject.

"So I was thinking, Stephen, your gunna need some nice shoes to go with this new suit, and you just need a new wardrobe in general. So im going to buy you one come on" I stared at him as he walked back towards Grafton street, sometimes I seriously couldn't believe him. So that's how I ended up spending the rest of that day being dragged from shop to shop with Bren picking me out loads of new clothes to wear and buying them for me, no matter how much I protested. I admit I did get quite into it and it really was the perfect way to end the day, except for the massive guilt I felt when we got back to the hotel and I realised I had 14 bags all full of new and expensive stuff. I had to somehow find out how he could afford all this, and find a way to thank him properly...somehow ;)


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry I Havnt updated in such a long time. Thought I might give this story one more try :)

Dublin - Part 3

Ste's POV

We decided to stay in that night as we were both exhausted from walking all over Dublin during the day. Brendan ordered room service as I jumped in the shower, I thought I might aswell try on some of the new clothes Brendan had so generously bought for me. I really needed to find out where all this money for new cars and clothes was coming from. I opted to wear the purple shirt brendan had bought me with a pair of silvery grey trousers and the fancy black shoes he also bought for me. I felt extremely guilty for letting him spend all his money on me.

As I stepped out into the living room area of the hotel suite I saw Brendans eyes widen as soon as he saw me, that made me feel slightly less guilty because i could see he clearly appreciated my new look.

" Well doesn't this make a change from tracksuit bottoms and hoodies, young Stephen"

I just grinned and walked over to him slowly trying my best to look seductive. I think I failed cause he just laughed at me as I sat down on his lap.

" We can do that, after we eat Stephen"

Just as he said that there was a knock on the door and brendan hastily pushed me off of his lap before calling for the server to come into the room.

It was a pretty nice night so we decided to eat dinner on the small table and chairs set which was on the balcony off the room. The view was amazing and you could see almost all of Dublin from the mountains in the west and to the sea in the east.

We both ate in silence for much of the meal, which was fine I liked when things were silent between me and Brendan. I didnt really ahve that with many people, where ya could both not say a word but be completely content in each other company.

He was the first to break the silence.

" So, Do ya like Dublin then?"

" Course I do Bren, Its great, has a different feel to any other city I've ever been to before"

" Yeah, Its a nice place " He said looking rather pensive.

" Can I ask you something Brendan"

He looked at me and laughed at that

" When have you ever asked for permission to talk, your always going on like some old woman."

" Oi, I dunno where you get this idea that I talk constantly I do not" I said rather annoyed at him.

" And theres your trademark tantrum young stephen" He said smiling at me, now I knew he was just trying to piss me off.

" Fine, I wont talk anymore so" and with that we went back into silence. I tried to avoid looking at him, I knew he was just sitting there with that cocky grin on his face and that as soon as I looked at him I would most likely smile right back at him.

" What did ya wanna ask, Stephen?" he said after a few minutes of silence

" Well...I, erm, was just wondering...where did you get all this money you seem to have all of a sudden" He looked at me like he was contemplating which lie to tell me next but completely shocked me when he told me the truth.

" I robbed it" He answered bluntly

" What?" I exclaimed in disbelieve, I knew Brendan was dodgy but I never thought he would be stealing huge sums of money " From who, and How much?"

" Well, remember when I was away for a few weeks, after all the eh danny stuff" He said looking anywhere but at me at the last bit of that sentence. " Well while I was away I found out that after I had, erm , taken care of danny that Warren had actually had the neck to go round to Danny's house, break in and steal £200,000. So I stole it back"

I just sat looking at him for a while. I didnt quite know how to feel knowing that danny huestons dirty drug money had paid for all of the new clothes I was wearing and probably the whole holiday I was on. I felt somewhat disguested by the fact that the reason Brendan even had the money was because he had murdered Danny, but then he had only murdered him because he threatened to murder me.

" You ok?" Brendan asked. And I realised that I was ok. I was fine with it, If I could get over the fact that Bren had killed somone I could definitely get over that fact he had also robbed him.

I laughed and replied " Yeah im great" and smiled up at him. " Bet Warren isn't though"

" And that is the problem dear Stephen, but ill figure something out. Besides he hasn't even noticed yet " We both laughed at that, neither of us particularly liking Warren it was easy to enjoy his misfortune.

So we slipped back into a comfortable silence and finished off our meal and then sat on the balcony for most of the night discussing all the things brendan could do with two hundred thousand pounds.

" Well, obviously I'll have to give some to Eileen for the boys, and then theres Mitzeee, I'll have to give her a few grand to shut her up" This mention of mitzee really put me out. I hated when Brendan talked about Mitzeee but not as much as i HATED seeing the two of them together in public acting all couply. She had exactly what I wanted, everyone knowing that she was with Brendan, that Brendan looked after and cared for her. Although i took some comfort in the fact that it was a sham and really it was me he did those things for.

" Why are you still pretending to go out with her" I asked " Im pretty sure everyone thinks your straight, not that they'd even care" I added feeling rather brave as I had fair few beers in me. He looked at me for a short while, I could see what I said had gotten to him.

" Does it bother you that much?"

"You know it does"

" We've already discussed this Stephen. I can't have people thinking im..."

"Thinking your what Brendan, whats so bad about people knowing the truth"

" Just stop Stephen " He spat out.

We sat there both angrily staring at each other, once more in silence except this time it was not a happy silence. I knew I probably shouldnt have brought it up, but I just wanted him to publicly accept who he was and that he was with me. That was hardly too much to ask.

Once again he was the one to break the silence.

" Ill finish with Mitzeee as soon as we get back, Ok?"

"Fine" I replied before thinking better of such a short answer and added " Thank you"

" Of course, Ill also give you a few grand" He said suddenly sounding rather shy, and he never sounded shy.

"You dont have to give me money Brendan"

" I know, I want too though. Not just for you but for little leah and Lucas, buy them a few new toys and clothes and stuff. I know how expensive kids can be."

And with that we slipped back into a nice evening spent talking on the balcony about everything from our kids to work to how we would spend our last day in Dublin, all the time avoiding talking about anything too serious.


End file.
